Thinking Bigger: Serving Others and Supporting Small Businesses

Although this time is full of struggle, re-adjusting, loss, learning to homeschool, and bits of frustration or maybe even fear, there are positive ways we can support each other! This time has reinstalled a sense of camaraderie and community. Do y'all agree? Many are serving more than they ever have. It’s a beautiful silver lining to this pandemic. When loneliness sets in, I encourage you to check in on someone else or send a thoughtful note or gift to a loved one; I guarantee it will bring you joy and will only bring comfort to others!

Here on the blog, we've implemented a new series of talks on Thinking Bigger. Last week we touched on How Simplicity Changes Everything, and this week I wanted to talk about serving others and supporting small businesses – A topic that has really been on my heart and surprisingly, has also helped me process during this time.

My family lives in Dallas; we are so close, and it was really tough to cancel the trips we had planned to see each other, not knowing when the safe next time will be. One way that has helped me feel so connected is by sending them presents that remind me of them or fun little things for my sweet nieces! And all the while, I order the items from small businesses. You bring a company joy while sending joy to someone you love, and it doesn’t have to be big!Another long-winded, yet rewarding project we have been diving into is all things home and finishing the furnishing process! With the intension of supporting small businesses, I feel like I have entered an entirely new world of discovering some incredible companies! It makes the purchase that was on the to-do feel much more purposeful.

Fun Ideas

• Create your neighbor a bouquet of flowers from the backyard.
• Write a note to someone you are grateful for.
• Call your grandma.
• Give to a charity that provides meals to others during this time.
• Cook a meal or cookies and deliver it to someone it would help.

Gift Ideas

• Send a bottle of wine from here (it's organic and biodynamic and delicious!)
• A toy for your friend's puppy from here, here, or here.
• Send something cute from here.
• This Box of Sunshine that gives 100% of proceeds to Baby2Baby.
• The cutest organic clothes for kids.
• For new mamas.
• Healthy products from here.

For the Home

• I just got this little vase, mini lamp, and marble counter pedestal (inspo from Ashley Kane).
• These pretty water glasses.
• European linen pool towels for such an affordable price!
• A healthy way to keep the bugs away outside!
• Rugs from here or here!
• Something pretty from here.

To follow along with items I'm getting my hands on, or to see how I'm constantly learning and processing throughout this time, stay up to date on my Instagram. x

How can you serve and support others during this time? Jot down a few ideas and try to implement one this week!

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The Beauty of Community

When you think of community, what do you think of? The idea of community has been on our minds a lot lately, specifically the beauty of community and how people loving, supporting, and caring for one another is instrumental and irreplaceable in all of our journeys.What is so cool about community is that it comes in all different shapes and sizes! Whether it is your closest girlfriends, your family, colleagues at work, people in your Church, couples that you are close with, or anyone else in your life, it is so healthy and rewarding to have people that you are able to be open and transparent with and really connect with on a soul level.Inviting people into your lives and sharing your lives with people is the Lord's vision for us as as believers-there is nothing that makes Him happier than to see brothers & sisters joining together and collaborating through life together, in His glory. Romans 15:5-7 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory (NLT). Another beautiful thing about community is when community grows- when you meet more people, when you share your story, your light, and your faith with others, you are willing and available to receive other's stories, light, and faith. Community develops overtime and the potential is endless! What inspires you to stay connected with others and spread your love? Let us know in the comments!

SHOP

jacket | jeans | sunnies | tee

[Agape] Loving Your Community

It has been said, and sung, that “where you invest your love, you invest your life.” But, what if we reverse that statement? Does it hold the same weight when we say, “where you invest your life, you invest your love.” What is the significance about where we choose to invest our lives? We all have a community or various communities that we belong to. Some of us have had multiple communities in multiple places that we have lived in and traveled to over the course of our lives. Others of us have had one single or immediate community that we have called our home for most of our lives. Still, while some of us have conscientiously chosen the communities we wished to be a part of and invest our lives in, others of us have been led away from our immediate communities to new and unfamiliar communities that we would soon call our permanent homes. But, the love we show to our communities and the relationships we build within those communities should remain the same whether or not we have willingly chosen those communities we are a part of. Regardless of what has led us to where we are today, and what has led us to call these places our homes, we must make a conscious effort to invest our love and lives into the communities that surround us.They say, “Good fences make good neighbors,” but have these physical fences that we have automatically put up transpired to creating emotional or intellectual boundaries that we have set with our neighbors? How well do we know our neighbors? Do we know what goes on in their daily lives? Do we know where they work, if they have children, what brought them here, or what they enjoy to do? Frankly, it is impractical to know everything about all of your neighbors, but it is more than practical to begin saying hello to your neighbors, to start asking them about their days, or to even invite them to dinner. It is more than practical to begin fostering relationships with your neighbors. We have been placed in our communities for a distinct purpose to invest in those communities. So, whether we have delightedly chosen our communities or we have reluctantly stayed in our communities, we have a purpose to invest in the growth of our communities. More than that, we have a purpose to love those people who are joining alongside us in growing our communities. When we change our perspective on our communities, we realize the importance of investing in the lives of those who make up our community. Our neighbors, then, become more than people who we cross paths with each morning while we rush off to work. They become more than people we see driving down the street, walking their dogs, or playing with their kids outside. They become more than people we call when they play their music too loud late at night or when it seems like they are performing a tap routine on the floors of their upper-story apartments. When we realize the importance of investing in the relationships we form with our neighbors, we begin to slowly tear down emotional or intellectual fences we have unknowingly built up between ourselves and these familiar strangers. When we begin to invest in the lives of those around us, the way in which we connect to the world becomes more intertwined. When the authenticity of our relationships grows with each intentional bond we form with our neighbors, we allow that same authenticity to carry out into the relationships we form outside of our immediate communities.When we begin to intentionally invest in the relationships with our neighbors, we will be more apt in investing in our cities. In the same way that we have purpose in our communities, we have a distinct purpose in our cities. Whether we are politically, culturally, artistically, intellectually, spiritually, or socially investing in our cities, we should not only know that we have influence in our cities, but we should believe in our influence. Furthermore, we must start acting out of our influence. For example, it is no concealed fact that local and city elections tend to have the least voter turnout among the various governmental elections, but it is a troublesome fact, nonetheless. If we have the most significant influence in the matters of our cities compared to the matters of our states or of our nation as a whole, then we should use our voices, talents, and passions to invest in our cities. We should also be aware of what is going on in our cities: things our city is thriving in, areas of need, and how our cities are being led. Once we are aware of the circumstances of our cities, we will begin to use our influence and our talents to contribute to the work of our cities. Whether by our own will or by the will of others, we have been placed in our cities for a specific purpose. We each have the capacity to love our cities through our talents, through our ambitions, through our passions, and through our inclinations in order to watch it grow.So, let us love on our neighbors and let us invest in the growth of our communities. Let us believe in where our lives have guided us and let us use our strengths and talents to impact the various communities we have become a part of. For, where we invest our lives, we invest our love.